Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Electronica
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Short description|Broad group of electronic-based music genres}} {{About|group of music genres and 1990s music scene|other uses|}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Electronica | native_name = | etymology = | other_names = | image = | alt = | caption = | stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Electronic music|Electronic]]|[[synth-pop]]|[[Hip hop music|hip hop]]|[[Ambient music|ambient]]}} | cultural_origins = Early 1990s, United Kingdom<ref name="bogdanov">{{cite book|author1=Vladimir Bogdanov|url=https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetoe00vlad/page/634|title=All music guide to electronica: the definitive guide to electronic music|author2=Jason Ankeny|publisher=Backbeat Books|year=2001|isbn=0-87930-628-9|edition=4th|page=634|url-access=registration}}</ref> | instruments = | derivatives = {{hlist|[[Alternative dance]]|[[post-rock]]}} | subgenres = | subgenrelist = | fusiongenres = {{hlist|[[Ethnic electronica]]|[[folktronica]]}} | regional_scenes = | local_scenes = | other_topics = {{hlist|[[Computer music]]|[[Glitch (music)|glitch]]|[[Intelligent dance music|IDM]]}} | footnotes = | current_year = }} '''Electronica''' is both a broad group of [[electronic music|electronic]]-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing<ref name="primer">{{Cite book|quote=Electronica is a broad term used to describe the emergence of electronic music that is geared for listening instead of strictly for dancing. |title=The Techno Primer: The Essential Reference for Loop-Based Music Styles |last=Verderosa |first=Tony |page=28 |publisher=Hal Leonard Music/Songbooks |year=2002 |isbn=0-634-01788-8}}</ref><ref name="bogdanov"/> and a music scene that came to prominence in the early [[1990s in music|1990s]] in the United Kingdom.<ref name="bogdanov" /> In the United States, the term is mostly used to refer to electronic music generally.<ref>{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Michael|year=2012|title=Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|edition=4th|chapter=Electronica and Rap|isbn=978-0840029768}}</ref> == History == === Early 1990s: Origins and UK scene === The original widespread use of the term "electronica" derives from the influential English [[experimental techno]] label New Electronica, which was one of the leading forces of the early [[1990s in music|1990s]] introducing and supporting dance-based [[electronic music]] oriented towards home listening rather than dance-floor play,<ref name="bogdanov" /> although the word "electronica" had already begun to be associated with [[synthesizer]] generated music as early as 1983, when a "UK Electronica Festival" was first held.<ref name="attritionrecollection">{{cite web |url=http://www.attrition.co.uk/history/recollection.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008105131/http://www.attrition.co.uk/history/recollection.htm|archive-date=8 October 2006|title=Attrition reminiscence |last=Levermore |first=Gary |work=[[Attrition (band)|Attrition]] |date=March 2000 |accessdate=17 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Gregory, Andy |title=The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002 |year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis Group |page=466 |isbn=9781857431612}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=International Who's who in Music Popular music. Vol. two|year=2000 |publisher=Melrose Press |page=429 |isbn=0948875070}}</ref> At that time electronica became known as "electronic listening music", also becoming more or less synonymous to [[ambient techno]] and [[intelligent techno]], and was considered distinct from other emerging genres such as [[Jungle music|jungle]] and [[trip hop]].<ref name="bogdanov" /> Electronica artists that would later become commercially successful began to record in the late [[1980s in music|1980s]], before the term had come into common usage, including for example [[the Prodigy]], [[Fatboy Slim]], [[Daft Punk]], [[the Chemical Brothers]], [[the Crystal Method]], [[Moby]], [[Underworld (band)|Underworld]] and [[Faithless]].<ref name="wired-method">"Crystal Method...grew from an obscure club-culture due to one of the most recognizable acts in electronica, ...", page 90, ''Wired: Musicians' Home Studios : Tools & Techniques of the Musical Mavericks'', Megan Perry, Backbeat Books Music/Songbooks 2004, {{ISBN|0-87930-794-3}}</ref> === Mid-1990s: Effect on mainstream popular music === Around the mid-1990s, with the success of the [[big beat]]-sound exemplified by the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy in the UK, and spurred by the attention from mainstream artists, including [[Madonna]] in her collaboration with [[William Orbit]] on her album ''[[Ray of Light]]''<ref name="billboard1" /> and Australian singer [[Dannii Minogue]] with her 1997 album ''[[Girl (Dannii Minogue album)|Girl]]'',<ref>[[Girl (Dannii Minogue album)]]</ref> music of this period began to be produced with a higher budget, increased technical quality, and with more layers than most other forms of [[dance music]], since it was backed by major record labels and [[MTV]] as the "next big thing".<ref name="technoculture2">"Electronica reached new heights within the culture of rave and techno music in the 1990s." Page 185, ''Music and Technoculture'', Rene T. A. Lysloff, Tandem Library Books, 2003, {{ISBN|0-613-91250-0}}</ref> According to a 1997 ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' article, "the union of the club community and [[Independent record label|independent labels]]" provided the experimental and trend-setting environment in which electronica acts developed and eventually reached the mainstream. It cites American labels such as [[Astralwerks]] (the Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, [[the Future Sound of London]], [[Fluke (band)|Fluke]]), [[Moonshine Music|Moonshine]] ([[DJ Keoki]]), [[Sims Records|Sims]], and City of Angels (the Crystal Method) for playing a significant role in discovering and marketing artists who became popularized in the electronica scene.<ref name="billboard" /> Madonna and [[Björk]] are said{{by whom|date=August 2016}} to be responsible for electronica's thrust into mainstream culture, with their albums ''Ray of Light'' (Madonna),<ref name="billboard1">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/57759/us-radio-hangs-up-on-madonna |title= Billboard: Madonna Hung Out on the Radio |publisher=VNU Media |magazine=Billboard |date=July 2006}}</ref> ''[[Post (Björk album)|Post]]'' and ''[[Homogenic]]'' (Björk). === Late 1990s: American inclusion === In 1997, the North American mainstream music industry adopted and to some extent manufactured ''electronica'' as an umbrella term encompassing styles such as [[techno]], big beat, [[drum and bass]], trip hop, [[downtempo]], and [[ambient music|ambient]], regardless of whether it was curated by indie labels catering to the "underground" nightclub and [[rave]] scenes,<ref name="billboard">{{Cite news | last=Flick | first=Larry | date=May 24, 1997 | title=Dancing to the beat of an indie drum | magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | volume=109 | issue=21 | pages=70–71 | issn=0006-2510 }}</ref><ref name="MIT">{{cite journal |quote=The glitch genre arrived on the back of the electronica movement, an umbrella term for alternative, largely dance-based electronic music (including house, techno, electro, drum'n'bass, ambient) that has come into vogue in the past five years. Most of the work in this area is released on labels peripherally associated with the dance music market, and is therefore removed from the contexts of academic consideration and acceptability that it might otherwise earn. Still, in spite of this odd pairing of fashion and art music, the composers of glitch often draw their inspiration from the masters of 20th-century music who they feel best describe its lineage. |title=The Aesthetics of Failure: 'Post-Digital' Tendencies in Contemporary Computer Music |author=Kim Cascone |author-link=Kim Cascone |url=http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors3/casconetext.html |journal=Computer Music Journal |volume=24 |issue=4 |date=Winter 2002 |publisher=MIT Press}}</ref> or licensed by major labels and marketed to mainstream audiences as a commercially viable alternative to [[alternative rock]] music.<ref name="NYmag">{{cite journal |journal=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date=April 21, 1997 |last=Norris |first=Chris |title=Recycling the Future |pages=64–65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-gCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64 |quote=With record sales slumping and alternative rock presumed over, the music industry is famously desperate for a new movement to replace its languishing grunge product. And so its gaze has fixed on a vital and international scene of knob-twiddling musicians and colorfully garbed clubgoers—a scene that, when it began in Detroit discos ten years ago, was called techno. If all goes according to marketing plan, 1997 will be the year "electronica" replaces "grunge" as linguistic plague, MTV buzz, ad soundtrack, and runway garb. The music has been freshly installed in Microsoft commercials, in the soundtrack to Hollywood's recycled action-hero pic ''The Saint'', and in MTV's newest, hourlong all-electronica program, ''Amp''.}}</ref> [[New York City]] became one center of experimentation and growth for the electronica sound, with DJs and music producers from areas as diverse as [[Southeast Asia]] and Brazil bringing their creative work to the nightclubs of that city.<ref name="latin1">"In 2000, [Brazilian vocalist Bebel] Gilberto capitalized on New York's growing fixation with cocktail lounge ambient music, an offshoot of the dance club scene that focused on drum and bass remixes with Brazilian sources. ...Collaborating with club music maestros like Suba and Thievery Corporation, Gilberto thrust herself into the leading edge of the emerging Brazilian electronica movement. On her immensely popular ''Tanto Tempo'' (2000)..." Page 234, ''The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots of Latin Music from Bossa Nova to Salsa and Beyond'', Ed Morales, Da Capo Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0-306-81018-2}}</ref><ref name="youth1">"founded in 1997,...under the slogan 'Musical Insurgency Across All Borders', for six years [Manhattan nightclub] Mutiny was an international hub of the south Asian electronica music scene. Bringing together artists from different parts of the south Asia diaspora, the club was host to a roster of British Asian musicians and DJs..." Page 165, ''Youth Media '', Bill Osgerby, Routledge, 2004, {{ISBN|0-415-23807-2}}</ref> ==Characteristics and definition== Electronica benefited from industry advancements in [[music technology]], especially [[electronic musical instruments]], synthesizers, [[music sequencer]]s, [[drum machine]]s, and [[digital audio workstation]]s. As the technology developed, it became possible for individuals or smaller groups to produce electronic songs and recordings in smaller studios, even in [[Recording studio#Project studios|project studios]]. At the same time, computers facilitated the use of music "[[Sampling (music)|samples]]" and "[[Loop (music)|loops]]" as construction kits for sonic compositions.<ref name="direct2">"This loop slicing technique is common to the electronica genre and allows a live drum feel with added flexibility and variation." Page 380, ''DirectX Audio Exposed: Interactive Audio Development'', Todd Fay, Wordware Publishing, 2003, {{ISBN|1-55622-288-2}}</ref> This led to a period of creative experimentation and the development of new forms, some of which became known as electronica.<ref name="holmes5">"Electronically produced music is part of the mainstream of popular culture. Musical concepts that were once considered radical - the use of environmental sounds, ambient music, turntable music, digital sampling, computer music, the electronic modification of acoustic sounds, and music made from fragments of speech-have now been subsumed by many kinds of popular music. Record store genres including new age, rap, hip-hop, electronica, techno, jazz, and popular song all rely heavily on production values and techniques that originated with classic electronic music." Page 1, ''Electronic and Experimental Music: Pioneers in Technology and Composition'', Thomas B. Holmes, Routledge Music/Songbooks, 2002, {{ISBN|0-415-93643-8}}</ref><ref name="wired-BT">"Electronica and punk have a definite similarity: They both totally prescribe to a DIY [[aesthetic]]. We both tried to work within the constructs of the traditional music business, but the system didn't get us - so we found a way to do it for ourselves, before it became affordable.", quote from artist BT, page 45, ''Wired: Musicians' Home Studios : Tools & Techniques of the Musical Mavericks'', Megan Perry, Backbeat Books Music/Songbooks 2004, {{ISBN|0-87930-794-3}}</ref> Wide ranges of influences, both sonic and compositional, are combined in electronica recordings.<ref name="technoculture1">" For example, composers often render more than one version of their own compositions. This practice is not unique to the mod scene, of course, and occurs commonly in dance club music and related forms (such as ambient, jungle, etc.—all broadly designated 'electronica')." Page 48, ''Music and Technoculture'', Rene T. A. Lysloff, Tandem Library Books, 2003, {{ISBN|0-613-91250-0}}</ref> Electronica includes a wide variety of musical acts and styles, linked by a penchant for overtly electronic production;<ref name="direct1">"Electronica lives and dies by its grooves, fat synthesizer patches, and fliter sweeps.". Page 376, ''DirectX Audio Exposed: Interactive Audio Development'', Todd Fay, Wordware Publishing, 2003, {{ISBN|1-55622-288-2}}</ref> a range which includes more popular acts such as Björk, Madonna, [[Goldfrapp]] and [[Intelligent dance music|IDM]] artists such as [[Autechre]], and [[Aphex Twin]]. === Regional differences === The North American mainstream music industry uses the term as an umbrella category to refer any dance-based electronic music styles with a potential for [[Pop music|pop]] appeal.<ref name="bogdanov" /> However, United States–based [[AllMusic]] still categorizes electronica as a top-level genre, stating that it includes danceable [[Groove (music)|grooves]], as well as music for headphones and [[Chill-out music|chillout]] areas.<ref name="AMG">{{Cite web |title= Electronica Music Style Overview|website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/electronica-ma0000002574 }}</ref> In other parts of the world, especially in the UK, electronica is also a broad term, but is associated with non-dance-oriented music, including relatively [[Experimental music|experimental]] styles of listening electronic music. It partly overlaps what is known chiefly outside the UK as intelligent dance music (IDM).<ref name="bogdanov" /> ==Included in contemporary media== In the late 1990s and early [[2000s in music|2000s]], electronica was increasingly used as background scores for [[television advertisement]]s, initially for automobiles. It was also used for various video games, including [[Wipeout (video game series)|the ''Wipeout'' series]], for which the soundtrack was composed of many popular electronica tracks that helped create more interest in this type of music<ref name="taylor">''The Changing Shape of the Culture Industry; or, How Did Electronica Music Get into Television Commercials?'', Timothy D. Taylor, University of California, Los Angeles, [http://tvn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/3/235 Television & New Media, Vol. 8, No. 3, 235-258 (2007)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203205355/http://tvn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/3/235 |date=2007-12-03 }}</ref>—and later for other technological and business products such as computers and financial services.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} Then in 2011, [[Hyundai Veloster]], in association with [[the Grammys]], produced a project that became known as Re:Generation.<ref name="RE:GENERATION">Ed. [[The Grammys]].[[Hyundai Veloster]], [[The Recording Academy]], [[Hulu|GreenLight Media & Marketing]], Art Takes Over (ATO), & RSA Films, n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://regenerationmusicproject.com/>.</ref> ==See also== * [[List of electronic music genres]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ===Literature=== * James Cummins. 2008. ''Ambrosia: About a Culture – An Investigation of Electronica Music and Party Culture.'' Toronto, ON: Clark-Nova Books. {{ISBN|978-0-9784892-1-2}} {{wiktionary}} {{Electronica}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Electronica| ]]
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page
(
help
)
:
Template:About
(
edit
)
Template:Authority control
(
edit
)
Template:By whom
(
edit
)
Template:Citation needed
(
edit
)
Template:Cite book
(
edit
)
Template:Cite journal
(
edit
)
Template:Cite magazine
(
edit
)
Template:Cite news
(
edit
)
Template:Cite web
(
edit
)
Template:Electronica
(
edit
)
Template:ISBN
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox music genre
(
edit
)
Template:Main other
(
edit
)
Template:Navbox
(
edit
)
Template:Reflist
(
edit
)
Template:Short description
(
edit
)
Template:Sister project
(
edit
)
Template:Template other
(
edit
)
Template:Webarchive
(
edit
)
Template:Wiktionary
(
edit
)